Awaken The Giant Within by Anthony Robbins is one of the classic self-help books that have spawned thousands of derivatives. This review is of the abridged audio version of that classic book and I want to start by explaining the difference between an ‘abridged’ version of an audio book and an ‘unabridged’ version, because before I bought this book I didn’t know the difference myself.
Basically, an ‘abridged’ version is an edited version of the real thing. A bite size chunk if you will. Whereas an ‘unabridged’ version is the entire thing. I thought I was buying the entire thing and was left disappointed when the tape stopped running after just 90-minutes. Live and learn. I won’t be making the same mistake twice.
I play this version whenever I go running or am pottering about the house. Cleaning is a great time to listen to a bit of audio self-help. It always makes the chores pass by that much quicker when you know you are learning something.
Robbins does have to pack it in as quick as he can. He is a man with an awful lot to say and 90-minutes is not a long time. He covers the importance of making better choices, whilst alluding to the often-missed fact that we do live in a world of choice. He also covers fundamental choice and how each one of us has the power to take the bull by the horns, instead of the waiting for the bull to gore our guts.
The most important part of the commentary, for me, was the section on the pain and pleasure principle. Understanding that each decision you make in life, no matter how important it is, is made to either advance some pleasure you are experiencing or to avoid some pain. My recent blog Getting Emotionally Aroused About Leaving Las Vegas was written with the pain/pleasure principle in mind and was inspired by this audio.
Robbins then covers limiting beliefs and convictions. You learn about the progression of these two critical factors in life. How they are morphed into your being by those chosen to hold you by the hand and lead you into the light. He gives you several exercises where you can uncover your own limiting beliefs and how you can take action to overcome them.
But do I recommend the purchase?
I am assuming that there are better audio offerings out there. The unabridged version would have been my first choice, but now I have listened to the abridged version I don’t wish to buy its bigger brother. So I’m not really recommending this one. It’s good, and I still listen to it when I have the vacuum cleaner in hand, but something tells me it will soon drop down the listening charts when something better comes along.
Photo courtesy of Raelene Gutierrez cc @ flickr.com
